58 [90] TRANS. ST. LOUIS ACAD. SCIENCE, 



men" place the cups to their mouths and are obliged to drink during the 

 emission of the note, which, after exhausting their breath, is repeated by 

 the three joung men on a finer key until the lungs are no longer inflated. 

 This long aspiration is continued nearly half a minute, and the cup is sur- 

 rendered at the instant the note is finished. The young men then pass the 

 cups to others of inferior rank, exclaiming "tcha!" but omitting the ya- 

 hdla note. At every meeting (in the square) the drink is generally served 

 up in this manner three times; during the intervals the men sit quietly in 

 their several cabins, smoking, conversing, exchanging tobacco, etc., and 

 disgorging (to the distance of six or eight feet) the quantity of cassine 

 swallowed by them. 



The symbolic and religious qualities of the liquid are pointed 

 out by the same writer, as follows (p. 266) : 



It purifies them from all sin, and leaves them in a state of perfect innocence ; 

 it inspires them with an invincible prowess in war; it is the only solid ce- 

 ment of friendship, benevolence, and hospitality ; a stranger cannot 



recommend himself better to their protection than by offering to partake 

 of it as often as possible.* 



Frequent allusions are made by all travellers and authors on 

 Southern Indians upon the extensive use made of the assi bever- 

 age. More details on it will be found in Urlsperger, Nachrichten. 

 i, p. 851 ; in Milfort, Memoire, pp. 195. 197; in Adair, History, 

 p. 108 ; Lawson, p. 90 : also in Lindley, W. Bartram, B. Romans 

 ("Florida," p. 94). 



From the Aryan religions of India and Persia we may in some 

 respects compare the worship paid to the juice of the Asclepias 

 acida, or soma-plant : 



The Haoma was the Soma of the ancient Hindus, an intoxicating plant 

 which symbolized the powers of vegetable life, and the juice of which was 

 drank by the faithful for the benefit of themselves and the gods (to 

 strengthen the gods in their fight against the demons — Schleicher^. An- 

 swering to the yellow haoma of earth is the white haoma of heaven, 

 which will make men immortal on the day of resurrection. (Sayce, "Anc. 

 Emp. of the East," p. 266.) 



It will be appropiate to add two quotations of cassine-drinking, 

 for being the most ancient mentions of this custom peculiar to 

 America : 



* Yahola frequently composes war-names, like h^dsho, fiksiko, ami can stand first or 

 last. The collective form of it is yaholalgi. Cf. Assi yahola, or Osceola, in " War-titles,'* 

 vol. i. p. 163. 



